Chapter 92: Music and Kidnappings? (2)

Lady Silva’s hand plucked the strings before her hand started flying over them, a sharp yet forlorn sound was plucked out, crying out into the audience like a melancholy rain. The sound of piano keys joined in, creating a full and harmonious sound. And then Aefre joined in, her voice starting out soft, rising and falling with the music.

"Silk flutters softly with a longing heart." Aefre’s voice dragged the notes out on a soft breath that did not shake or dim in the slightest, showing amazing breath control. "Rain drips down as I break apart." The broken sadness in her voice was palpable, easily making one’s heart sink just from listening.

It was during their performance when a previous memory struck Adrien. It was a line from the novel, one that had been blurry but was now burning brightly in his mind. It was a small line– or more like a small paragraph– that mentioned about one of the many kidnappings that Lady Silva had gone through. But would it still happen? Lady Silva was no longer performing alone but with two others, and the Ceciles sisters at that.

Adrien jolted up out of his seat, a panicked expression twisting his face. Just because the Ceciles sisters, who held a lot of attention since they were the daughters of a Duke, didn’t mean that things may turn out differently. It wasn’t something that should be taken lightly, especially since this particular kidnapping had lasted for a few hours since Lady Silva was unable to use her space ability to teleport away. He looked over at Mikyle. "I’m gonna go meet them backstage. I feel like something is going to happen."

Mikyle slowly looked over his face, taking in every minute detail. "Go ahead. I’ll join you," he said without asking for an explanation.

As Adrien was heading toward the backstage, he saw Mikyle heading in the direction of where Nathaniel and the Queens were sitting up in the balcony seats.

Adrien reached the backstage just as he saw Aisley and Aefre walking out from the back. "Where’s Lady Silva?"

"She went to the backrooms. While we were on stage, she noticed that one of her earrings was missing and went looking for it," Aefre told him, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Is something wrong?" Aisley asked, noticing his expression.

Adrien was already heading to the backrooms. "Let Mikyle know when you see him," Adrien shouted over his shoulder, drawing a few eyes, and even a few strange looks.

He ran down the back-lit hall, looking into each room. On the fourth one, he found Lady Silva slumped down on the ground with a thin, dark metal bracelet that gleamed like moonlight interlocking her hands together. Adrien recognized the bracelet as being made out of the Mana blocking metal that he had read about. Three men stood around her, and one of them was even in the middle of bending down to pick her up.

"Get away from her!" Adrien shouted, reaching out for his Mana, which was still a slow process even with all of the training Mikyle had been helping him with.

"Oh. It’s the loser who can’t use Mana," snickered a fourth, hidden voice. A boy around their age with brown and green striped hair walked out from the shadows. Adrien recognized him as one of his classmates, specifically as the one who always came behind Lady Silva in grades. "Knock him out and take him with us for now," came the easy dismissal, the boy still acting high and mighty.

Before Adrien could even finish calling upon his Mana, something hit him in the back of his head. His body slumped forward, falling quickly toward the ground as his vision swam before quickly turning black.

Adrien was shaken awake, not by hands but by something moving. The first thing he noticed was the nauseating feeling of being in a moving vehicle, and then he felt the hard, wooden floor beneath him. A groan escaped him before his eyes slowly opened. His blackened vision gradually returned, increasing his nausea as it did so.

"Oh, you’re awake."

Adrien looked over from where he was slumped against the floor to find Lady Silva sitting on the far wall, her back leaning against the wall, her arms locked together by that thin metal bracelet.

"Ugh," Adrien groaned as he pushed himself off the floor, which was surprisingly difficult since his hands were tied. Luckily, they were tied with a rope instead of Mana Restricting chains. "How long have I been out?"

"Hmm. Probably around fifteen minutes. From the feel of the road, we just left through the gates of the school," Lady Silva answered calmly.

It’s only been around fifteen minutes? And how did we get out of the school so easily? For the Academy to be such a guarded school, they sure did lax on their security for the festival.

"Any chance you can get us out of here?" She lifted up her arms. "I can’t do anything with this thing cuffed to me."

Lady Silva looked way too relaxed as she spoke calmly. Her eyes shimmered with mirth as they flicked to the chains around her wrists.

Just then, the neighing of horses came from the distance, growing louder with each passing second.

"No. But something tells me that Mikyle and Prince Nathaniel will be here shortly."

Adrien’s words rang true as the driver and the men sitting up front began to shout. The shouting grew louder as the carriage came to a jerking stop that caused both Lady Silva and Adrien to crash onto the floor. Pain throbbed up his elbow and into his shoulder, but Adrien fought through it as he rose to his feet, which was difficult with the low ceiling of the carriage.

Lady Silva also rose to a stand, taking up a stance that would allow for her to run quickly.

The noise outside came to a quiet hush. Straining his ears, Adrien could hear two sets of footsteps quickly approaching the door to the carriage. The sharp burning sensation filling his veins informed Adrien of who was approaching before the doors swung open to reveal the blinding light of the setting sun.

"You’re late," Adrien complained, letting himself relax.

"Sorry, Kitten. I’ll make sure there won’t be a next time so that I’ll never be late again."

"Lianna!" Prince Nathaniel shouted, hopping into the carriage and nearly missing hitting his head on the low-hanging ceiling.

Mikyle stayed outside, offering his hand to Adrien. Adrien, whose hands had been tied loosely with a rope, took his hand. "That was reckless," Mikyle chided once Adrien’s feet were firmly on the ground.

"It was," Adrien agreed. And it was. If he was smart enough, he would have taken Aisley and Aefre with him when he went looking for Lady Silva, but he hadn’t. And not only that, he knew he would never win in a fight if it ever came down to it. This body was still too physically weak and he still didn’t have that great of control over his Mana.

"But I knew you would come quickly." That had been the biggest thing he had been banking on after being hit on the back of the head, that Mikyle could track him through that strange bond that they shared.